Too often, Christian comfort is filled with easy answers and quick fixes that just don't work. Being a Christian has nothing to do with religion filled with rules and regulations. For me, it has to do with a relationship with Jesus Christ and has everything to do with love and forgiveness.
Think of Words From the Heart as devotions filled with inspiration for living in the real world.

Everyone’s been there. In fact, we’ve all visited this place so many times it’s surprising we are still surprised. Some call it the end of our rope while others call it hitting bottom. Regardless of how it’s defined, it’s that place where we come to the end of ourselves. We’ve tried everything we know to bring peace and order in our lives. Instead, we become quite familiar with chaos.

How’d we get there? More importantly, why are we there? What does God want from us, anyway?

If we could learn to seek God’s plans for us before we get into chaotic living, we might see more clearly what He wants. Of course, many of us think we already know what He wants. Either it’s a life based on works rather than a relationship, or it’s a life we’ve spent trying to fit our desires into God’s desires. While there are times when those two things coincide to bring us to a higher place, it doesn’t come haphazardly.

Jesus gave us two commands that simply tell us to love God and love others. However, if we don’t have a healthy attitude about love, we need to look deeper into how we exhibit that love. After all, we can have a dysfunctional relationship with God just as easily as we can have dysfunctional relationships with others.

Often we tend to get caught up in religion rather than being caught up in a relationship with our Creator.

God showed His endless love, patience and mercy to the Israelites. As they came out of their 40 years of wandering in the desert, God once again provided them guidance. In Deuteronomy 10:12-13, Moses gave them a short course on what God wanted of them.

So now Israel, what do you think God expects from you? Just this: Live in his presence in holy reverence, follow the road he sets out for you, love him, serve God, your God, with everything you have in you, obey the commandments and regulations of God that I'm commanding you today—live a good life. Deuteronomy 10:12-13, The Message

Too often, we complicate the simplicity of these words. The Jews did it when they added their rules, regulations, and requirements. We have a tendency to do the same. If we seek to know God’s heart and His desires for us, we can begin knowing our Creator with these five steps:

RespectFollowLoveServeObey

God wants us to live a good life rather than one filled with frustration and disappointment. When we begin a loving and active relationship with Him, we’ll discover exactly what He wants from us. And the good news is that He is always faithful.